Tax Law

Couple Making $39K a Year Reels in Shock at Call from Preparer: They're Getting a $54K Tax Refund

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Even their tax preparer, the owner of H&R Block in North Carolina, couldn’t believe her eyes.

But a couple making $39,000 annually who have adopted five children in recent years qualifies for a $54,000 tax refund. That’s because an adoption tax credit of $13,170 per child became refundable this year. Hence, David and Thelma Ward will be paid the amount left over after the credit is applied to their tax bill, reports CNN Money.

Thelma Ward says she was so overcome by the news of the refund windfall that she had to hand the phone to her husband.

In previous years, the Wards applied for the adoption credit but had to carry over the difference to the next tax year. This year, the adoption credit will account for $45,560 of the refund they expect to get.

“We couldn’t believe it when we totaled everything up. We were like, that can’t be right,” says Dee Carter, who owns the local H&R Block that has prepared the Wards’ tax return for a decade. “We had never seen anything like it before, so we had to check it over and over again.”

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